


Hold It, Focus.

by icyllarke



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bellarke College, Multi, My First AO3 Post, dont be too mean
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:40:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28913247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icyllarke/pseuds/icyllarke
Summary: Bellamy Blake and Clarke Griffin have never been more than rivals, they couldn’t stand the other at all: what happens when they get set up for a project together and they have to ignore every small mistake the other one does? But mostly, will they become friends and, eventually, something more?-Title by Harry Styles, Golden.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Emori/John Murphy (The 100), Jasper Jordan/Maya Vie, Luna/Raven Reyes, Monty Green/Harper McIntyre, Octavia Blake/Lexa
Kudos: 5





	Hold It, Focus.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first fiction on AO3 so don't be too mean lmao.  
> My mother tongue is not English but I'll try to do my best to improve it!

You know about those stories that see the hero of the fairytale as a strong, careless and lonely character? That until they find true love and live together, in a castle upon the sea, with their spouse and eventual children, claiming “The good always wins.”? Yeah, well, Clarke had never been attracted to such endings.  
She found the good in the evil, desperately trying to feel what the bad guy felt, to imagine their pain, collect it and make it her own. She found a back door, a new beginning for the side, as claimed evil, stubborn and reckless character.  
So of course, when her dad Jake used to read to her those amazing stories, all she was but amused by how the good guys reached their pursuits and fought the enemy down.  
She wasn’t a big fan of the princesses world per se, she often despised how in every damn tale, a Male character appeared from nowhere, acted all cocky and then got the princess’ heart claiming to be in love. (Dude, you just met.) No, that was stereotyped and extremely dramatic for her. With time she even started to notice the lack of LGBTQ+ representation that the magic world carried, and felt almost disgusted by how normalized it was not to have a non-straight relationship told. The stories were for kids, after all, how bad could that be not teaching them from the very start that there’s not just one sexuality in the world and that everybody matters?  
Aware of the reason, Clarke started to feel left out by her classmates from her first year of school to her fifth one: her hate for the Disney world was not well seen by the girls in her class, and neither was by their moms who just checked Clarke out to discover an issue or whatever they were up to. Because, as the words that left their mouths recited, it was extremely unusual for a girl at her age to point out the issue and lack of personality and self-confidence the princesses had in every movie.

Just one person had been by her side all the time, her best-and only-friend, Wells Jaha.  
Wells was no ordinary boy, he didn’t play videogames or binged a Marvel saga when bored (which Clarke definitely did). He went around helping the Planet, joined recycle clubs and spreaded awareness. Oh, and spent his free time making Clarke laugh or taking her to bike rides, rebuking her for picking flowers shortening their young life and basically having her back at school. Thanks to him, Clarke spent many nights feeling loved for once.  
Every good story, though, ends at some point. So just the day before her freshman year of High School at Arkadia High, Wells moved to Texas with his dad, still mourning her mother who had recently died of brain cancer.  
She found herself completely alone in a new school, not knowing any of the people she ran into: it seemed like she had just moved to Arkadia from some city near the Capital.  
Maybe it had been luck, but randomly, Clarke made a friend. Her first friend not counting Wells. And with her, many others among.  
The girl’s name was Octavia Blake, a freshman too, with dark hair and chocolate eyes. Her chin always tilted up, a strong charisma and a big heart, which made her incredibly lovable.  
Clarke had been introduced to Octavia’s group as soon as she stepped into the cafeteria on the first day they met, and since then, everyone had become an important part of her life.  
Excluding Octavia and Clarke, the group was made by seven people, all of them were freshmen and had known each other for a while already.  
Raven Reyes, an incredibly self-confident brunette girl whose best friend seemed to be her long ponytail; she was funny but harsh when it came to important decisions to make.  
Monty Green and Jasper Jordan, a hurricane duo, were different but even: Monty was shy, brown eyes and straight hair, always quiet but smart, Jasper was the opposite, a hothead willing to take the risk without considering the actual risk.  
Then Harper McIntyre, a lovable blonde girl, who somehow knew how to make you feel better anytime. She was kind, maybe even too kind for the world, and a soft drunk as well.  
John Murphy, who preferred to be called just Murphy, was a thin but strong guy, sometimes acting like a jerk and cold, but with an honest heart. You could always count on him, if you were one of his favorite people he had your back no matter what. Clarke saw him as a brother she could always rely on.  
Then there was Nathan Miller, or just Miller, he played in the football team and was one of the best kickers around, he was smart, out of the blue and sarcastic, the type of friend everyone wants but a few can get.  
And last, and surely Clarke’s least favorite, Bellamy Blake, Octavia’s twin brother.  
He was...Clarke didn’t really know how he was. He had just chosen to ignore and hate her from the moment Octavia introduced them. He thought she was a spoiled, self-centered Princess. Oh, yeah, the nickname he had exclusively picked for her.  
Not a case though, he knew about how much Clarke hated princesses and such, that was why he had chosen to call her that. Just to annoy her.  
They barely interacted, and if they did they just insulted each other and, as their friends claimed, liked to flirt.

Thanks to this group, Clarke survived High School with chin raised, went through what every teenager struggles with, got cheated on (long story that brought her trust issues) and had fun and amazing new life experiences. Like smoking, getting high and such. Rebellious phase, you know?  
She face-timed Wells every few days, annoying him with comments full of anger about Bellamy, updating him on the news and drama and he just did the same.  
She could say those years had been the best of her life nonchalantly.  
But then came College. Moving seemed like a hell of curse, but she was glad she was finally running as far as she could from that small town.  
Fortunately, her friends and her didn’t plan on studying too far, so at the end they all got in the same University, Phoenix College in, well, Phoenix, two hours from the Capital and ten from Arkadia.  
She shared her dorm room with Harper and Octavia and she couldn’t have gotten luckier. Yes, Raven had got misted with two other girls, Gina Martin and Fox Blythe, but they were kind and kept up with Raven, which was often a hard mission; sometimes they all hung out together, and the girls were a nice company to keep around.  
For the boys, Monty and Jasper lived just in the room up Clarke’s, and shared it with Sterling Evans, and the three of them were just a menace based on how much booze they drank and produced.  
As for the others, Murphy, Miller and Bellamy all happened to be sharing the same room, just two numbers away from Monty and Jasper, making it possible to have game nights every weekend. Harper, Octavia and Clarke, sometimes sneaked out after curfew by using the stairs that from their window led to the boy’s dorms and stayed there until dawn without getting caught.

Love life was definitely a mess in the group. Harper and Monty were friends with benefits -and feelings- but were just too stubborn to admit it; Jasper seemed to be playing a get-lose game with Maya Vie, a solar girl who often hung out with them, they fought a lot for silly things, and their relationship was uncertain. Murphy had a crush on a girl named Emori Kru, and if what he wanted was winning her heart, then he was failing miserably and ridiculously becoming miserable day after day.  
Octavia, Miller and Raven didn’t have any love interest, being the singles for choice and only stable friends around, casually flirting at pubs and parties but never actually going through with it.  
Clarke did go through with it, though. She flirted and hooked up a lot, it was always a night stand thing or no string attached shit; she just didn’t like love at all, not after her terrible experiences.  
Bellamy...Clarke had no idea if he was seeing someone, she didn’t care, but she was sure he hooked up too. Not as much as her, but he was somewhat of the most requested guy at the dorm. Clarke had to admit he was hot, but she hated and felt sorry for him when chicks went around objectifying and sexualizing him. Everyone would.

It was her third year at Phoenix, and she was stressed and the amount of homework certainly affected her mental health. Not forgetting how her job as barista took her last strengths away every night. She woke up at 9.00 AM, went to school, came back and took a long nap, sometimes hung out with the group, studied and then at 7.00 PM went to work for eight hours. That routine was unhealthy, but she had the weekend off to enjoy and rest.  
School surely wasn’t going to pay itself, after all.  
Fortunately, she wasn’t alone at the bar, Monty and Murphy (and Bellamy) worked there too, and as students they got the same shift getting to joke with each other during work. Roan Azgeda owned the company, he was a nice guy and, even if he made them go through a hell of shift, he cared for them as friends. Sometimes, when they were working, the rest of their friends kept them company, a thing Clarke was relieved for.  
With her part-time job, Clarke was almost obligated to talk with Bellamy, and their silly fights and teasings entertained the staff.  
Clarke and Murphy closed the local, they used to drink hot chocolate before doing that, talking and spilling new gossip every week; with the years they had got close, installing a brother-sister bond and helping each other at any SOS sent.

That night there was a fresh breeze in the air, the cold winter night everywhere to be spotted. The night had been calm, no stress or problems with the clients, it’d gone good.

“There you go.” Murphy smiled handing Clarke a mug full of hot chocolate and cinnamon.  
She hummed a ‘thank you’ and brought the border to her lips, breathing in the scent.

They sat in silence for a while, until Murphy caught a sparkle in Clarke’s eyes and sent her a questioning glaze.  
After taking a careful sip, she shook her head.

“It’s about Bellamy.”

Murphy raised an eyebrow at her, holding a grin back and waiting for her to elaborate.

“He seems kinda off these days, you know?” she took another sip of her drink as if trying to find an answer to whatever was going on inside her head.

“I first thought it was some family crap but Octavia looks fine, it’s him the one who looks like shit.”

“Not like complete shit.” the boy corrected her blinking and she rolled her eyes in response.

“It affects the job! Seeing him there lost in his thoughts.” Clarke exclaimed, and Murphy eyed her suspiciously for a moment before resting his mug on the table.

“He looks just fine, Clarke. I haven’t noticed anything weird and I’m his roommate.”

“And I am his co-worker, doesn’t mean I’m as blind as you are.”

Murphy laughed and snapped his fingers.

“Just say you are his friend and quit.”

“I’m not.”

“Love Interest?”

“Fuck off.”

“Fuck buddy?”

“Murphy?” Clarke replied, shaking her head and making a face in disgust. “We don’t even fuck.”

“Give it time.”

At it she showed him her middle finger pretending to be disappointed. Truth was she wasn’t going to put a dot at that conversation, she knew something was up and didn’t want to risk losing clients because of Bellamy’s emotions ruining the mood.  
Saying she cared about him was lying, sure they spent a lot of time together, but their interactions were harsh and quick, they weren’t even friends and weren’t trying to get along either. They were just two normal adults who worked together, hung out together, went to the same school and lived next to each other, but that was it. No fluffy shit or compliments, just nods and teasings, and lots of challenges.  
One thing Clarke wasn’t gonna deny was how good of a beer pong partner he was, never missing a strike and cheering when she hit the glass winning a match.

She was aware of his unconditional love for Octavia, and he never failed to thank her for always being by her side and having her back.  
If there was one thing that connected the two of them and managed to make them get along was the love they both felt for Octavia. 

Murphy’s voice came shaking her thoughts away.

“And?”

She sighed heavily and glanced over the stage. Yes, the local had one.  
It was nothing but a small raised platform at the front of the room, it was a tiny place, just two people and possible drums could fit, but they weren’t used to having live music nights often.  
Clarke loved music. She didn’t see herself as a professional singer such as Taylor Swift or Katy Perry, she just enjoyed it hearthly.

“Why don’t you sing something for me?” Murphy asked.  
“Please…” 

He was staring at her warmly, as if knowing that would’ve made her feel better, but she just shrugged and got up her seat to clean up.

***

Clarke’s morning had not started in the best way.  
First, her alarm took a break from it’s work and decided not to pound, so she woke up terribly late and got dressed in less than ten minutes.  
Then, she accidentally poured her coffee all over her science notebook and was forced to make up a believable excuse for not ending her homework.  
And last, her history teacher caught her falling asleep during class.  
Worst thing was that her math teacher had requested a meeting with her to discuss her grades. 

So she had a lot going on inside her head at the moment.

“...and Ms.Griffin.”  
“What?”

The famous history teacher was now looking at her carefully, visibly dosappointed. She had indeed no idea what they were talking about.

“I was saying, Ms.Griffin, that for next month’s project you will be pairing with…”

Oh, so she had a month. She genuinely hated doing her homework with others, sharing ideas and such: that because every classmate she had got assigned with, didn’t get her. Plus, they didn’t care about the project, it was always about the final grade, so they didn’t put passion in the research.

“...Mr. Blake.” the teacher, whose name was Diana Sydney, concluded.

Clarke grunted and cursed herself.  
She was waiting for Bellamy to complain, invent some kind of excuse on why that duo couldn’t work, but he never did. She even started to wonder if he understood, until he managed to come out with a lame ‘Yes, ma’am.’.  
She just shook her head and glanced over him, his glance already pinned on her.  
His dark eyes harsh, her light ones harsher, daring him to break contact and, with a smirk, he finally did. Nothing special, just a game they had.

After her class ended, she didn’t wait for him and just got back to her dorm finding Octavia and Harper stalking someone on Instagram.

“Sup?” she called locking the door behind her.

The girls waved at her warmly and she placed a kiss on both of their cheeks before crashing on the couch with them.

“Octavia bumped into this hot girl from sophomore year.” Harper said, handing her phone to Clarke.

The instagram account had more than a thousand followers and the girl’s feed was aesthetic and nice. She didn’t post much about herself, more about her trips, walks and pride.  
Well, she was certainly hot.

“Is this her name?” Clarke asked reading the username.  
“Lexa Woods?” Octavia nodded and Harper smiled brightly.

“You should hit on her.”  
“That’s what I told her!” Harper mumbled.  
“Chill, I know nothing about her, girls.”

Clarke took Octavia’s hands and smiled teasingly.

“Make up for it.”

The girls burst in laughs until Octavia finally decided to follow the advice and texted her on Instagram nervously.

Clarke was having fun.  
That until she got a lame text from an annoying guy who happened to be her new partner for the history project.

Bellamy: Hey, Princess!👑 Can’t escape me forever. ;)  
Bellamy: When shall we start the essay?

A double texter, that was boringly news to her. She typed back.

Clarke: Idk.

Truth was she didn’t want to do it. Working with Bellamy was a thing, hanging out with him (even if for school work) was another.  
She also had no intention of inviting him over.

Bellamy: How does today sound for u? The shift doesn’t start until 8PM this evening.

She rolled her eyes.

Clarke: Omg can’t wait to meet me, Blake?  
Bellamy: You wish.

She could basically see him grinning at that. She knew the faster the essay was done, the faster this would’ve ended, so she considered it and gave it a go.

Clarke: Alright. Time and place.  
Bellamy: My dorm in twenty?  
Clarke: Wow u really can’t wait to meet me ;)  
Bellamy: See u soon 🙄

So it went like that. She showed up at his place getting a gasp from Murphy, who wasn’t used to seeing her around, and a wave of hand from Miller. Bellamy wasn’t in the living room yet, so Clarke just sat on the couch and chatted with the guys. Apparently Murphy had, finally, made a move on Emori, so he was fully experiencing the new feeling growing inside his chest. She was lost in the conversation that she didn’t hear Bellamy opening his door.

“Hey.” he called from his room making his way towards her.  
“I didn’t hear you coming.”

Clarke shrugged.

“Hurry, the faster we end this, the faster I get rid of you.”

Bellamy bit his lower lip and raised an eyebrow sitting at her left and picking up a notebook. He looked tired, the curls all over his forehead and lazy eyes.

“Okay, we have a lot to do.”

At first they argued about what to treat in the essay, visibly both firmly standing on two different opinions, they spent half an hour just yelling at each other (receiving amused looks from Miller and Murphy) and complaining. Eventually they agreed to talk about Greek old myths.  
Turns out Bellamy was informed about the topic, and Clarke had read every book about legends too, so that essay was going to be amazing in any way.  
The bad part of it was the partner, but honestly, Bellamy was the best she’d ever had.

After two hours, Clarke’s alarm rang, reminding her she had to go to work in an hour.  
Murphy refused to let her go, so he called Harper and asked to drop Clarke’s working clothes at the apartment. Him, Bellamy and Clarke got to work together, and the feeling was nice. Of course, when Monty found out (Murphy spilled) that Clarke and Bellamy were partners for a history project, he didn’t fail to mention it to Jasper, who told the entire group that they were finally getting along. Because Jasper always changed facts.  
So after a while, the group was sitting at the booths, questioning Bellamy and Clarke.  
Eventually Clarke lost it and sighed.

“Y’all, it’s a fucking project! We’re not friends, we do not get along and certainly we are not going to screw, Jasper!”

They all rolled their eyes and mumbled, but at least the message was clear enough.  
Or so she thought.

***

The worst part of having Bellamy as partner was that every damn overexcited chick ran after him. Now, that wasn’t a big deal, not until their horny level turned into an anger level and they pulled it on Clarke. That basically happened when she was walking to her apartment and heard two girls talking behind her about how she was obsessed with Bellamy. Of course that caught her attention, she had a certain reputation and wasn’t going to let anyone think she was a scared, horny and sick Bellamy addicted. Lord, she couldn’t even stand him some days!  
So she waved at the girls and introduced herself.

“Hi, I’m Clarke Griffin, sure you know who I am. Unfortunately there has been a misunderstanding. Girls, I can assure you, the only feeling I have towards Blake is hate. Oh, and pity.” 

One of the girls, long blonde hair and marked eyeliner, spoke.

“Josephine Lightbourne, and thanks for clarifying that. Honestly, we’re sick of those chicks who simp for the old Blake 24/7.”

She smirked and locked eyes with the other girl, with dark hair and green eyes. It didn’t take long for Clarke to realize who that was.

“Are you Lexa Woods?”  
“Yeah, that’s me.” she said furrowing an eyebrow.

Damn, Clarke knew Octavia was going to be pissed at her for it, but she couldn’t help it.

“I’m Octavia’s roommate,” she began noticing Lexa getting hit by a blush.  
“If you ever want to stop by, well that’s the room.” she concluded gesturing towards the door.

Josephine grinned and blinked at Clarke and then Lexa mumbled a ‘thank you’. 

After that, she got into the apartment smiling at herself.  
Yes, Octavia was going to be pissed at her. Nothing that Lexa couldn’t take care of later, though.


End file.
